The Benue State Emergency Management Agency has spent more than N160m on snakebite treatment for internally displaced persons and other vulnerable residents between March and September, amid logistical challenges affecting access to medical care.
SEMA Executive Secretary James Iorpuu disclosed the expenditure while detailing the agency’s response to the needs of displaced communities, including medical care, education, protection and efforts to help families rebuild their livelihoods.
Iorpuu said the agency had arranged treatment for displaced persons at Benue State University Teaching Hospital, where two nurses coordinate patient assessments, stabilisation and referrals to specialists. He identified inadequate transportation as a major challenge in getting patients to medical facilities promptly.
The agency has also trained 248 community reporters to monitor incidents in displacement camps and host communities. Iorpuu said reports of sexual and gender-based violence were referred to the police, while efforts continued to expand the reporting network and protect the identities of those involved.
In education, 163 displaced children have enrolled in a federal government secondary school exchange programme, according to the SEMA chief.
The agency is also pursuing relocation and livelihood initiatives. Iorpuu said displaced persons had been moved out of school buildings in Naka to a designated site, while about 110 others had been relocated to Akile in Makurdi Local Government Area to engage in farming and other productive activities.
He said SEMA was working with humanitarian partners, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, on resettlement support involving shelters, healthcare facilities and other basic infrastructure.
Despite reduced food supplies, the agency has continued distributing food to displaced households, he added.
Iorpuu called for coordinated support from federal and state governments, local authorities, humanitarian organisations and affected communities, saying the goal was to facilitate safe returns to ancestral homes and provide adequate shelter, healthcare, education and sustainable livelihoods for those unable to return.
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